Taxes and Ants - Huzzah!

So, to start things out. The ant traps, of which DH had set up several, seems to have been successful. Yesterday morning I had a teeming number of stacked ants on the one trap, nothing on any of the others he had set out. Yesterday in the early afternoon, there was some movement around the one trap, but not the frantic activity of earlier in the day. Today, when I awakened and checked the traps, there was NO movement. None. We'll keep the traps in place, of course, for at least a week, maybe more. But it looks to have been successful. The live ants carried the poison back to the nest, and it has passed through the nest now, affecting all of the living ants. 

This is NOT one of my dead ants, but it is 
a lovely photo of a dead ant for illustrating 
the paragraph above. My ants are too tiny 
to get a good photo of. 

Taxes - Aearwen had to cancel our afternoon chat yesterday, and I was fine with that. I still had to get a few things in order for the accountant. So I sat down at the computer and compiled a list of my charitable contributions for the year. These are contributions - one time or ongoing monthly donations - to a variety of charities - not personal gifts of this or that just to help a friend out in a time of need. I still came up with a nice long list of contributions to the tune of more than $1100 for the year. I'll have to continue working on that. It looks like animal welfare is high on my list - two animal charities, and then people - LGBTQ and others who need a helping hand. I'm pretty happy with that - there's no sense in having the ability to help others and not doing so. 

I'm a big believer in donating to charities. I am fortunate 
enough to have funds available, and so I make sure to 
spread some around to help others who are less fortunate, 
or animals - near and dear to my heart. 

Today it's back to work for a day. I have to get focused and use the checksheets I've been developing to get a handle on our Swarovski crystals. DH still wants those to be our next week-long clearance sale, and I know what I need to do to make that posssible. Now, to try and think of a way that won't be impossible for my customers or my staff, and keep things moving throughout the week so that we can easily find each product the customer wants to buy. It's going to be tricky. 

If I can pull off making a workable checklist for this 
upcoming sale, it will be excellent. I've been getting 
practice in how I want to do this by working on the 
inventory sheets for our clearance boxes. Now to 
see if I can apply those lessons here - LOL. 

I actually slept until my alarm went off this morning - something that's fairly rare. Lately I've been waking up before my alarm (which is set for 3:00 am - so a bit crazy, right?). I had just settled down to my morning meditation when I heard DH come down the stairs. Fortunately, he has learned to NOT disturb me in the early mornings, and the sounds of him moving around disappeared quickly. When I was finished with my meditation, I headed downstairs and found him at his computer, playing "Lord of the Rings Online" - a game which we've planed for a LONG time since we were part of the original beta group for the game way back more than 20 years ago (I'm pretty sure it's been more than 20 years now - can't swear that for sure, though). DH has been playing my characters lately - trying to get them more caught up. I haven't played for more than a year, just no time or inclination. Maybe after I retire I'll reclaim my characters for myself. 

We've been playing Lord of the Rings Online since 
the beta and that's a long time. More than twenty 
years now. DH plays almost daily, I haven't played 
for quite a long time. It's a good thing he's keeping 
my girls up-to-date for me. 

So, I'm wrapping this up and heading out to the pool for my third and last swim of the week. I'm really looking forward to being in the water, even if the book I'm listening to is dragging on a bit. Still, it's keeping me occupied and in sync with my swim routine, so I can't/won't complain. I found out a long time ago that listening to books while I swim allows me to have the best workout, so I embrace it whether I'm in love with the particular book or not. I might not love the book, but I do love the characters, so I'm moving along with the plot. Rather like life, sometimes - LOL. We just move along, in spite of the fact that not all days are stellar. Have an excellent day, Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל. I'll be back tomorrow.

It's Going to be a Busy "Day Off" - Not Much "Time on my Hands" Today

It's a "day off" today, and I'm already busy doing laundry and thinking about my grocery list. I need to make some dinners for my next week ... what to make? It's a nice problem, but I will need to actually make up my mind before heading to the store later this morning. I want to continue working on this repair today, and I have a lot of housework and cooking that I want to do as well. I won't be bored, but I also won't have a lot of "extra" time on my hands. 

We have a meeting with our accountant tonight for our 
business income taxes. Those meetings usually go quickly, 
but I'll have to make sure that dinner is done early and just 
kept in a warm oven. The longer meeting will be for our 
personal taxes, and that one will be next month. 

I did finish one of the two restring jobs I had from GG. I really like how the first one turned out. I had to double the thickness of the silk I was using - these are OLD beads and the holes are larger than most of today's versions. So I had to use double-thickness on the thread to make the repair really work. Since I only had two strands of the silk pre-stretched, I quickly grabbed a second set of two and put those out to stretch for her second strand. It's a shorter strand, and I'm thinking about the clasp and whether I should change it to my most popular one or not. I don't have to decide until tomorrow, so I'll concentrate on household chores today instead. 

GG's beads are rather fun (the pictured beads, although old, 
are rather boring). Still, the larger knots between the beads 
are exactly what I had to do to make hers work well. I'll 
try to remember to photograph the finished pieces when 
I finish the second one tomorrow. 

Which means ... I really have to make up my mind about what I want to cook for my next few meals. I'm tempted to make a batch of chili - that's always tasty. But a batch of my roasted peppers and tomatoes soup wouldn't be a bad choice either. Hmmm ... decisions, decisions. I think I'll pull those recipes out of my stack quickly and take a look. Maybe looking them over will help me make up my mind. 

I love making my roasted peppers and tomato soup, so I 
might make a batch of that one today. It's pretty easy - 
roast the veggies to peel them, then toss them into my 
blender to make the soup (on the "soup" setting - very 
powerful and more than six minutes of intense blending). 
It might be the perfect choice for a day when I need to 
make my chicken a bit earlier than usual. 

I never mentioned, but my dehydrated pineapple chunks turned out FABULOUS. It was a great pineapple, really sweet. I'm slowly munching my way through the pieces - a few on a salad here, a small handful to munch one piece at a time there. Dehydrating it was a brilliant idea. That also reminds me that I had purchased two Star Fruits at the same time. I had never eaten star fruit before. I was underwhelmed. The texture of the fruit is similar to that of a watermelon, which actually is quite tasty. But the actual taste was really "meh". It just didn't have a lot of taste. Maybe I chose poorly, but I decided life was too short to waste my time and calories on food I didn't like, and tossed them after trying them for a few days. I didn't hate them, but they weren't really tasty either. 

I'm simply honored in my friends - old and new. I needed some information about a specific factory's beads, and thought of an old friend. Barry and I haven't spoken in years, but in the old days, I used to call him to place orders, and then we would sit on the phone and just chat for 30-45 minutes at a time. We also met up when I was at the Tuscon Gem & Mineral Show one year. It was nice to have a face-to-face meetup with a vendor. He's a direct importer from this factory, so I figured he would have the information I needed. I emailed him, and within a day, he was back to me with a complete listing of exactly what I needed. Friends - they're absolutely AWESOME. I'm very grateful for every one of them that I have, and those friends include YOU. My readers! So, go forth and have an absolutely amazine day. Spread some joy - a little goes a long way. Think kind thoughts, try to stay away from the negative for a single day - your body will thank you. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

 

A Day of Appointments, Decisions, and Deadlines - First Call-Out for Cards

DH has a rather full day today. He's got a 9:00 am appointment with our accountant - hopefully last year's taxes weren't messed up, but if they were, we need to get it fixed ASAP. Our broker actually caught this potential problem. We'll see who is right and who is wrong. 

We have a pretty good accountant and his mistakes 
have been minimal and rare. If he did mess up 
last year's taxes, he'll make good on it. But we need 
to get it resolved quickly, before we move into the 
end of the year and the time for filing our 2021 
taxes draws closer. 

At 3:00 pm, he's due at the dentist to get his crown cleaned and reattached. Hopefully they can just glue it back into position, but if there was any tooth degradation, it might create more of a problem. I got his e-information updated and sent off yesterday afternoon, so he should be good to go. 

While I was driving around town from here to 
there yesterday, I stopped to take some photos 
of the last of our Fall brilliance to share with 
all of you. So you're getting Autumn photos 
along with my text today. 

I am going to try to get to the store as early as possible because I'd like to finish the covers for my holiday cards and start making a final decision on how I want the interior to fit together. I've been thinking about this for days, so I took a quick break, found a product that I think will work, and got it ordered. By the time it arrives, I should be ready to use it. Hopefully it will have the correct texture and drape to be what I really need. The clock is ticking. 

This lovely golden tree was in front of one 
of the high schools in the area. I happen to 
pass it on my way to and from Whole 
Foods every week or two. 

DH was talking about getting a pre-cooked turkey for Thanksgiving (we won't have a new oven until sometime in December). I mentioned I would prefer a Thanksgiving buffet - that I wanted warm turkey for my holiday. He grumbled about microwaves. I said no, I really want a nice, hot turkey buffet for my Thanksgiving meal. I'm pretty sure I'll prevail. I'll also mention that I'll cook a turkey for Christmas this year with our new oven, and he might be mollified by that. At least I hope so because I would really prefer a buffet dinner on the holiday. 

The variety of the colors in this shot really attracted me. 
I was almost home when I saw this, pulled over, and took 
a quick pic. I just loved the full look, from green on
the left, to central colors, to almost empty on the far right. 

Of course there will be food choices over the holidays that I normally wouldn't eat. And the question will come up in my mind, "how many poor choices am I willing to make for a holiday?" It's a good question. I've proven to myself that I can pull away from strict food choices for an occasional this or that, but I also don't want it to become a habit. My habit should be good food choices, not hopping off the train for momentary excursions, barely catching the last car as it pulls back out of the station towards the next stop. 

I don't want to miss the train by getting used to poor 
food choices. I'm extremely happy with where I'm 
at now in terms of weight and body fat index. I do 
NOT want to fall off and mess myself back up.  

On that note, I have cards calling my name. So ... since they actually seem to be falling into place in my head, here's your FIRST CALLOUT FOR CARDS. Those of you new to my blog - I make a total of 50 total cards. I reserve one for my records, and I have a set number that go to old friends and my family. I allocate the remainder on a first come/first go basis, so if you want one of this year's card, comment below and send me a PRIVATE MESSAGE with your real name and address. I promise, that information does NOT get shared with anyone - your privacy remains intact and protected. 

Don't be late. I would hate to miss sending you a 
holiday card if you wanted one. Still, it's always 
first-come/first-serve for newcomers. There are 
always some slots open, so grab yours! 

So ... on that note, and with those warnings, I'm off. I have cards calling my name, a charged up audio player with my next book loaded and in process, and I'm more than ready to get moving on today's work. Have an excellent Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Today Will Be A Perfect Day - At Least, That's The Hope

Sometimes the day starts out great. Today is one of those rare days, and since it's only 4:00 am, I'm just hoping that the way it started is the way it continues. Why or how did it start so well? Things clicked. Easy, peasy. 

I love it when things come together beautifully. This morning
was one of those wonderful and rare times. Since I have my
income tax appointment with my accountant tonight, I'm
hoping this trend continues throughout the day. 

Last night, while watching the first episode of this year's "Spring Baking Championship" I cobbled together a very sad story for today's Back to Middle Earth prompts. The prompts, 'rust' and 'spirituality' made me think a bit - those two words don't work smoothly. Then I thought of prayer and how people will say that they are 'rusty' at praying when they haven't done so in quite a while. OK, rusty prayers. 

Prayer - to some people it comes easily, perhaps too
easily. For many, however, it is something that
is rarely practiced with true heart. 

Why would someone need to pray? Usually, for someone to finally use prayer when it has been put aside for a long time, there is an event - often tragic - that pulls the person to appeal to a higher being. That appeal can be harsh, or accusatory or just a long groan of a "why?", but it is tragic and heart-felt and immense. 

There are 1000's of images of Maglor, but this one is one
of my favorites. Kudos to Elena Kukanova for a
beautiful rendition. 

I turned to a character I've written about many times in the past - Maglor, musical son of Feanor - and his stunned reaction to his father's death. Death was almost unknown to the elves, they were immortal and would live on Arda for as long as Arda still existed. To live as long as a planet is not absolute immortality, but it's a VERY long time. Thus, elves are immortal in my eyes. Yet, here Feanor, an immortal, had died and been pulled from the Circles of the World and thrust into the Halls of the Dead. 

There are a lot of drabbles and drabble challenges out there. I've
participated in some of them in the past, but no longer force myself
to keep to the 100 word structure. Still, it was fun to have a
story fall into that without even trying! 

His sons must have been devastated and stunned that such a thing could even happen. So I wrote a small part of this through Maglor's eyes, edited the story this morning just before starting my blog post, put in my headers, and quickly checked my word count. It was exactly 100 words. I had a drabble without even trying for the word count. Yeah Me!!! 

Thus, my day starting out great. Of course, I'm going to hope that I'm going to continue with a great day, instead of having it shift around. I want to slide down the mountain today, not pull my gear out of storage and begin a hard climb up. Here's hoping your Tuesday is fabulous and fantastic. I'll be back tomorrow - at least, that's the plan. Happy Day to you all!